From the artist's statement

“Spectacula”

“Spectacula” is what both Stevie and Myself hope to be a long running print project. It is a carefully considered work. The means of production, down to choice of materials utilized, The themes encountered through the narrative, the choice of protagonists in terms of characterization, and the style of the art work illustration, as well as the legal boundaries set around it, are deliberate choices on the part of Stevie and Myself, as the creators.

“Spectacula” is a hand drawn with black ink on recycled paper. The images in ink are then mechanically reproduced by means of a photocopier. The printed pages then are bound by hand.

All materials and means of production are common place. Signification and differentiation are arrived at by an intense, laborious, obsessive, focused drafting technique. The work is designed to keep a reader occupied, by capturing attention, and thereby slowing his/her psychological time. The narrative progresses by means of visual storytelling, with minimal typed text, in order to clarify our meaning as authors. There is an attempt to fill, to the point of overflowing, each panel, with details, creating rich visuals, that are worth revisiting for the sake of finding what might have been overlooked upon initial cursory inspection.

“Spectacula” will remain within the realm of the printed page. The tangible qualities of paper media are accentuated, producing a real object, to be appreciated in real time, and engaging many senses. Creating a cherished object, stimulating a positive response to ownership. “Spectacula” storyline follows several themes, Marriage being one of them. The two main protagonists, Blacula and Nina’s very special relationship is a mirror of ours, the Author’s, with of course a heaping dose of humors. Their Love is their sustenance they thrive upon as they overcome obstacles.

Another, the relation of employment as means of arriving at power, and all of the frustration that surrounds that struggle. The appreciation of the work day is recalibrated, out of utility, and into to an epic fantasy.

The current state of global conflict and environmental concern is met with an Ian Fleming type plunge out of news facts forming a backdrop for the narrative. Our common political atmosphere is represented in the work making, the work universal and accessible for the reader.

What is depicted within each panel, in terms of inanimate objects rendered, is a deliberate style choice. Machined goods, surplus… analogue vs. digital, machined and lathed vs. vacuum molded. Cotton, wool, linen, leather, brass, steel, lead, canvas vs. plastic, and synthetics. Objects depicted are represented as engaging and tactile. That tactile experience, I believe is rather lacking in our culture.

The heavy reliance upon animal characters is an examination of the dichotomous relation the animal world bares to ours, the human world. A certain animal-spirit concept is in play, at once defining dynamic relations between ours and theirs. Theirs and ours, currently under threat from our mechanistic processes. With the Author’s Fantastic Feline Dare Devil Hard Core Asstastic Wunder Gatos as Muse, we have animal spirit as readily available code.

Stevie and Myself are producing “Spectacula” under trade mark, through our business, “The Perfumed Inserts”. If there were to be imitators, for whatever reason, Stevie & Myself are prepared to wage Titanic Court Battles reminiscent of Ray Harryhausen’s clay-mation dinosaur fights!

- Brian & Stevie McCord, “The Perfumed Inserts”

Biography:

Stevie and Myself are a married couple, who produce art by means of performance and other mediums. Both of us are native to Houston, and currently residing in The Elder Street Artists Lofts.